A Girl
by SavannahsDrabbles
Summary: Karai has led a hard life so far. And more is yet to come. ((One shot))


A baby girl looks at a man, her brow wrinkled as she wails into the night. It is hot – and she is scared. The man holds her close, whispering words of comfort and relief as they hurriedly move away from the fire. He bends his neck and plants a sweaty kiss on her forehead. "You are mine. Do not worry. You are where you belong."

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A little girl gazes up at her father, eyes wide as he approaches. He reaches out to touch her head as he goes by, and she giggles.

"Father – I made you something!" she stumbles after him, holding up a crayon-drawn picture. The image shows an Oriental girl, her hair pulled into pigtails, and a much larger man with pink lines drawn across his face and arms. Beside them stands a woman with a kind smile, and warm eyes. "See? It's us and Mother!"

The father's eyes sweep over the picture, and he frowns. "You are getting much too old for such things, Daughter." He watches as her smile falls. "You may hang it up in your room, but no more. Such childish things are making you soft."

He strides away.

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A girl drops to her knees in fear, bowing as her father marches toward her. He stops before the eight year old, and she feels her heart pounding within her chest. A soldier writhes on the floor next to her, having been badly beaten.

The father chuckles warmly, and the girl feels a rush of pride as he kneels to help her up. "You have done well, my child. Next time, however –" The armored man turned sharply, his foot kicking out to strike the victim once more. The soldier flies backwards at the impact and crashes into a wall, suddenly still. "Do not show any mercy."

The girl smiles in relief, and bows in respect. "Yes, Father."

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A teenage girl clutches a torn photograph behind her back, hands trembling as she looks up at her father. The girl's stomach churns and aches with cramps. "I wish Mother were here."

The man freezes, and then slams the tea kettle onto the counter. "Life is not fair, Daughter. You know that your mother was taken from us. That is why I wear these scars. Our enemy killed her with a blow to the heart – where wounds hurt the most. Then he set our home on fire," he takes a step towards the girl and kneels at the table with her, setting a cup of tea in front of her. "I only just escaped with you, my Treasure."

The girl shifts her hands to slip the photograph under her knees, and picks up the glass. Frustration buzzes within her as she takes a sip of the warm drink. "I wish you could have gotten revenge against that disgusting creature. I want to know that he died a painful death after what he did to us."

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A young woman startles awake, eyes meeting her father's as he slams her bedroom door open. "Father? What is it?"

The man does not move at the doorway. Only breathes heavily. "Pack your things, Daughter. The time for revenge has come. We must leave."

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A sixteen year old woman screams at the creature before her, calling him a coward as he flees. The hideous being that stole her mother from her. The wretched creature who somehow produced the four strange reptiles she had fought in the recent months was now hurrying away, his eyes full of pain. But it was not pain that she or her father had inflicted. There were no wounds. None that she could see. So why did this demon leave? Why not face her and strike her like he did to her mother?

One thing was for sure. She _hated_ the animal. And she _would _get revenge for all that had been done wrong against her.

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A girl looks at the rat before her.

Her heart pounds in her ears. The breath has been stolen from her lungs, and she can feel a sharp crack form in her heart.

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A child stares in fear and hatred at a man through iron bars.

Father? No.

That word belongs to another.

This man… is not her father. He never has been.

The crack has deepened, until it pierces her very soul.

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A daughter clutches her father, his quiet murmurs of relief washing over her and stinging the crack in her heart. The man whom she used to know… must pay for this.

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The flames from when she was an infant have returned. They lap at her veins. She is drowning. Her pulse pounds around her, and she can hear screaming in the distance. Screams of fear, horror, and grief.

And in the midst of those screams, she can feel her own self being dragged away into the depths of her mind – locked up in the gaping chasm in her heart and sealed in by this awful ooze she now finds herself in.

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A monster stares at her prey.


End file.
